On or off the job?

From today’s editorials: An Albany city worker is under investigation for his use of sick time. What are taxpayers getting for their money?

Here are the questions Mayor Jerry Jennings and others at Albany City Hall need to answer at last. What has Ronald Barrett been doing, and what should he be doing, as the city’s gang prevention specialist?

The occasion couldn’t be more appropriate, with Mr. Barrett now on administrative leave from his nearly $48,000-a-year job with the Department of Youth and Workforce Services and the mayor naming an independent counsel to investigate his use of paid sick time, among other matters.

Reporting by the Times Union’s Robert Gavin brings some urgency to questions of just when Mr. Barrett does his work, where he does it and on whose behalf he does it.

There’s certainly plenty to be done confronting gangs and trying to control their influence in Albany. Two federal indictments since 2006 are proof that the problem might very well be getting worse. Yet here’s Mr. Barrett making frequent trips to anti-gang conferences and seminars — 325, dating back to 2004. The mystery as to what he’s actually doing at these events and just how the city might benefit is compounded by the fact he often uses paid sick time to attend them.

He took a full or partial sick day 47 times between Jan. 1, 2008, and June 26, 2010.

She should start, at least with Mr. Barrett. He filed for sick time or a full workday in 2008 and 2009 while he was at appearances in Schenectady, West Virginia and California. He was paid $1,500 for two appearances in West Virginia, and $350 to $400 each for three events for the Schenectady School District while he was recorded as sick or on the job in Albany.

“That I didn’t know — he shouldn’t have done that one,” Ms. Andrews said of one of Mr. Barrett’s engagements in Schenectady.

Written city policy surely offers guidance when it comes to Mr. Barrett’s use of paid sick time.

It’s to “provide employees with protection against loss of income due to illness or physical disability” and “used only when necessary,” not simply because an employee had accumulated ample sick time. Excessive or fraudulent use of sick time can be grounds for disciplinary action.

As for the instances when Mr. Barrett is being paid to be simultaneously at work in Albany and at engagements outside of the city, can Albany afford that? This is a city with a budget deficit estimated at $20 million and a mayor who won’t rule out layoffs.

The people who live here and pay taxes here are entitled to answers. There might be a better way to deal with the gang issues that concern everyone, not just Mr. Barrett.